If you’ve been following this blog you”ll know that you haven’t had anything to follow for a while. One of the things I was working on in the interim is designing a new sign and window graphics for my local comic shop, Campus Comics.

Last year Campus Comics came under new ownership and Mike Noe, the new owner, determined a new sign was needed. His daughter Sarah designed a new logo for the store and Mike consulted with me on a sign.

This is what resulted.

I created a sign utilizing the new logo and added a background to match some of the other marketing created for the store. We also produced a smaller NoeMan’s Land sign to promote the owner’s online presence.

For contrast, here is the comic shop’s previous sign used for the last several years.

We decided a more colorful sign was necessary to attract attention from the busy street the store is on and also to set it apart from the other stores in the shopping center.

Utilizing the busy street was also the thought behind the graphics for the windows.

This is the store when the window graphics were installed before the new sign.

There was a desire to grab people’s’ attention as they sped by and clearly state “we have comics here.” White logos were used to stand out from the dark windows and provide a unity to the various designs.

I decide to enlarge the logos to the extent that some of them run off the windows to grab the eye. The Superman “S” is very recognizable to the point that it is easy to pass by. By cropping parts of the logos they stand out as “not being right.” Chip Kidd used a similar technique when he redesigned the trade dress for the Batman books back in 2000. By placing the DC logo in the corner and truncated, it stood out way more than it did on the plethora of other covers it was on then.

So yeah, I’m on par with Chip Kidd, basically.

Below is a banner I created also to be used at conventions for the store.

Here it is at this year’s Salem Comic and Toy Expo in Salem, IL.

The main idea here was to create a banner that tied into what had been done for the store signage.

All in all, I am pretty pleased with the way all of these turned out. More so, than my typical work that is beaten to death by clients’ “input.” The response to these has been overwhelmingly positive, or as far as I know it has. Unless everyone is lying to me to my face.

Customers who haven’t been in a while are typically taken aback by the improved look of the store now and I knew it would start with how the store looked on the outside.

Hey, I know I haven’t posted anything in a while, so if you’re reading this, thanks. Real quick: I had some plans for this blog that didn’t work out and I wanted to do something special for my 100th post (that’s this one). Eventually, I realized that the topic of that post should be something that was special to me. “What’s special to me?” A YouTube channel that I discovered a few months ago.

Comic Trips is the self-proclaimed “Best YouTube Channel You’ve Never Heard of.” The show recounts the adventures of Paul and Kat as they travel to various comic shops, conventions, flea markets, etc. All the while they search for comic books, toys, and other pop culture ephemera.

Most of my interests developed in ways that are now forgotten to me over time, but this one is recent enough that I can recall exactly how I discovered it. I’m detailing this here mainly for my personal benefit, so that when I get older and forget I will have this as a record. It’s my blog so whatev. A few months ago Kevin Smith (if you’re reading this, I don’t have to explain to you who he is) visited the Mile High Comics store in Colorado. He posted a walkthrough video of the store with owner, Chuck Rozanski. I have had a couple of dealings with Mile High online, but had never visited their physical store, so I was curious to see what it was like.

After watching the video, YouTube naturally brings up other videos you might be interested in viewing. I then started to watch a video by a YouTuber who was discussing Kevin Smith’s video. Now, this is the part I can’t remember. The channel I was watching THIS video on is lost to me and of course now I can’t find it again. However, the commentator was saying that Comic Trips also recently visited Mile High Comics.

“What’s Comic Trips?” I thought to myself. I looked it up and found a great new YouTube channel that I hadn’t known about. At the time, I believe they had 6 seasons available to view. Instead of just jumping to the episode where they travel to Mile High, I decided I should watch all of the episodes in order. This is what collecting comics for decades and being a completist gets you. Of course I then set about binge watching the entire catalogue.

Luckily, the show was great. Due to some personal circumstances of the last couple years I haven’t been able to travel to very many conventions and comic shops like I usually do. So, I was able to live vicariously through the duo of Paul and Kat as they journeyed to a plethora of comic shops and related events. (Yes I did just re-watch The Three Amigos the other night.)

In addition to just being a travelogue of their experience, the show is also a chronicle of their relationship. If I am remembering correctly (no guarantees), I believe they stated that they only dated for a short time before they started recording their trips. So you also get to see the development of them as a couple. This is a unique aspect to their show that adds a lot to it.

Other than just being a great reality style collectible show, there is another aspect to it that is really important to me. Paul and Kat’s enthusiasm for what they are doing is very endearing. After collecting comic books for nearly 28 years, sometimes you hit a rut in your hobby. Numerous events, reboots, and stagnant creativity takes it toll over time. Due to the monthly nature of comics it’s easy to coast along for quite a while just out of habit. There are books that I will always get automatically and there is always something that is “good enough” and like anything in life, you go through the motions at times.

Being a jaded collector of almost 3 decades can put a damper on your view of collecting, but that is not the case with Comic Trips. The energy they put towards their collecting feels genuine and not inflated like most reality shows. (I’m looking judgingly at you, Comic Book Men.) Now their burgeoning relationship is probably also a factor in this, but it doesn’t take away from the overall positivity of the show. Something that is in decline in the nerd community in general.

While watching Comic Trips, my own passion for collecting was revitalized. This year I knew I would be able to attend some local cons and visit some more comic shops in my area. Suddenly, I couldn’t wait to go to some of the local conventions in my area, that were still months away. Now, I’m talking about small, cons with mostly local guests, not San Diego Comic Con. However, I was now pumped for the convention season to start and planned out my itinerary with my homie, Kreative Assassin. You can check out his blog here: http://www.kreativeassassin.com/

Over the course of the summer my homies and I have traveled to various local cons and shops and had a great time. We’ve found so many comics, toys, and various things and had a blast. Without Comic Trips I doubt we would be as gung-ho with our travels as we have been this year.

Yeah, this accurately describes how I’ve felt this summer.

The day I am posting this, July 24, 2017, is also the day that Comic Trips’ eighth season is to premier. So now would be an ideal time to jump in and check out the Best YouTube Channel You’ve Never Heard of.

Part one featured the comic shop aspect of the store. This post focuses more on the store’s coffee section. After selecting the comic books I wanted from the second floor, I returned to the first floor to purchase them and some coffee. The reason I had traveled to the store was the potential of reading some comics and enjoying some coffee in a pleasant environment. I was not disappointed.

The owner rang up my comics while training his daughter and explaining to her that the new Superman Rebirth volume was different from previous series. Yet another fun aspect of another volume of the core Superman title. Meanwhile, the owner’s other daughter prepared a hot chocolate for me and was very thorough in asking how I wanted it prepared. I’m not that picky about my hot chocolate, so I think I just said “yes” to whatever she recommended.

I then sat down and proceeded to devour my purchases. The hot chocolate I got was good. In retrospect, I probably wouldn’t have gotten so much stuff in it. It would probably be fine plain. It was good hot chocolate. Have to try it like that next time.

After I was reading awhile, I realized the “mood lighting” of the room wasn’t great for reading comics. I prefer a lot of light when reading. There were tables by the windows that I could have sat at that probably would have helped, but that would’ve meant getting up. This is a personal preference of mine and probably brought on by my dad chewing me out for reading in the car when it was getting dark out. When I was growing up, not like the other day. For a coffee shop though, it’s inviting and appropriate.

Drinking a large hot chocolate while reading several comic books led me to having to use the facilities, where I saw:

Hygiene’s important, yo.

There are a lot of little touches around the store like this. Their Villainous Grounds logo is on the tables, merchandise, and their bags. (Which were nice and sturdy btw, good for carrying a lot of comic books. Something you think more comic shops would figure out.) It’s good branding and helps you remember the store. Also, it portrays the store as more professional. Even today, it’s rare to see a comic shop bother with branding to any degree.

I then decided to have a cup of their house brew. Now, I’m not a coffee snob. I rarely drink coffee to begin with. My main requirements for coffee are that it tastes good and is hot. The owner proceeded to tell me how they had selected the brew and all the different kinds they had tried. That’s fine. I’m sure there are coffee drinkers out there, and probably some of their customer base that appreciate that. Most of that is lost on me. Unless you tell me Juan Valdez grew this coffee, I don’t know what you’re talking about. What I took away from this was a store owner who cared about his product.

For me, the proof is in the cup. I returned to my table with my coffee. I got 1 sugar with it since that’s typically how I take my coffee. (I’m not going to type “that’s typically how I take it” because I’m not going to open myself up to that. Who am I kidding? That would mean someone’s reading this. For serious though, thank you both for reading.) The coffee was pretty good. After I finished reading some more issues I purchased a 1/2 lb. bag of the house brew to take back to work with me. My co-workers ended up liking it too.

Other thoughts:

The staff was super friendly and welcoming. They all wished me happy birthday.

Coffee was good and they have a lot more on their menu I didn’t try. They also had desserts.

Upstairs was a room selling work by local artists and authors.

They have several upcoming events and book signings by authors.

Definitely seems like there are two types of customers there. Ones coming for comics, and ones coming for coffee. Maybe that’s just how it seemed when I was there though.

Overall, this was a really nice store. I will definitely go back. I just wish they were closer so I could justify going over there and just hanging out more often.

I’ve wanted to check out their store since I found out about it and my birthday seemed like a good opportunity to do so. I made my way to the store easily enough after half-ass checking Google maps as I have not been to Perryville before.

Now, upon first entering the store, I was alarmed for the first few seconds. The first floor of the shop is the coffee section. There were two customers sitting at a table drinking coffee and they did not look like comic fans. I did not immediately see any comic book related material and this is “red alert” for me when visiting a new store for the first time. Previous experiences of a comic shop being out of business or moved pump through my brain in these moments. Especially pre-internet when you were relying on a phone book or someone’s recollection of out-of-date info. (I’m old.) Luckily, I saw a sign with Superman and a staircase beckoning me to untold comics above.

Again w/out permission. Seemed awkward to take pics of customers.

Probably while these thoughts were going through my head, I was greeted by the owner’s daughters (?) working behind the bar. I confirmed that I could go upstairs and buy some comics and then come back down and buy some coffee and sit and read my comics. I was overjoyed. This is a great idea and what I had come for.

I proceeded upstairs to the comic book section and began to look around.

Again, I’m not a photographer.

There were 3(?) rooms of comic books. A lot of new books and merchandise and a few tables of back issues.

Everything in this store is well-organized and pretty easy to find. The store is pretty new and there isn’t a ton of stuff, so it would be pretty bad if it wasn’t. However, for a store that hasn’t been around very long yet, it feels like they have been doing this for years. That might be due to the family aspect of the business.

Finding a nice, clean store with comic shops is kind of a roll of the dice and I was pleasantly surprised. This store seems like it would be really inviting to new customers and casual fans. Something missing from too many comic book shops. There is a lot of merchandise and t-shirts for people to pick up also. Don’t worry, they have Funko Pop!s. I know you were wondering.

Speaking of Pop!s, after a trip a friend of mine and I made recently, where every store we went to had Pop!s, I have decided to pick them up as souvenirs. I figure this will keep me from buying too many of them and hopefully make them more worthwhile to me. So, I determined to pick one up here since I was on a trip.

Villainous Grounds had a lot of Daredevil shirts there, so I decided to pick up this Matt Murdock Pop! based on the Netflix show. Cool red lenses were also a factor. I didn’t realize that it would be a bobble head. I think I heard something about the Disney ones being that way before. Probably some licensing conflict with someone else. So, from now on, I will on purchase Pop!s when I am on a road trip. You know, except for that Funko DC box I subscribe to. https://detective651.wordpress.com/2016/07/08/whats-in-the-boooox-legion-of-collectors-suicide-squad/

As far as being welcoming to new customers, they have a kids section of comic books. A lot of stores also have this, but not all. I’ve found it’s a good barometer of how inviting a store is to “outsiders”. Plus, according to their website they are looking to expand it. So, there’s that too.

When I got to the back issues, I discovered that they were 50% off during July. Happy Birthday to me! A sign said that only certain ones were on sale, but all the ones I pulled were so it worked out for me.

For me, a big part of traveling to a comic shop are the back issues. If I’m going out of my way, I want to get stuff I can’t get somewhere else. With comic books, that means back issues. New stuff can be had at your local store or online or wherever. Since I was a kid, I’ve tried to stress to people that all comic shops don’t all have the same stuff. They’re not Wal-Mart.That’s also the beauty of going to a comic shop you haven’t been to before. There’s always the chance that they’ll have the issue you’ve been looking for for years. Today online retailers and Ebay have taken a lot of excitement out of the hunt, but nothing beats finding the physical issue you’re looking for and holding it in your hand.

Having said all that, they didn’t have a lot in the way of back issues. This pic shows the majority of them.

That’s a great idea in the pic above by the way, a Return Basket for back issues. Instead of someone putting an issue back in the wrong place, the employees can return it where it goes. I’ve never seen a comic shop do that and now I don’t know why. Would probably help with inventory too.

Normally, I would be disappointed if a store I traveled to only had this amount of longboxes. In this case, I realized that all of the back issues are from approximately the last year. I’m assuming the time the store has been open, but don’t quote me on that. Personally, that works out great for me. I’m trying to get caught up on several recent series right now and they had a lot of stuff I was looking for! Score.

After quickly finding several back issues I wanted, I went back downstairs to purchase them and have some coffee.